We woke up the following morning to a stunning, sunny morning. The plan was to head up to St Andrews, my alma mater and a nice place to spend a Saturday afternoon. We arrived just noon and headed out for lunch at the Central pub – one of my favourites (apparently one of Prince William’s favourites, too – but I found it first!)

We finished lunch, jumped into the car and headed out to the West Sands. We parked the car and headed off for a walk along a secluded part of the beach. And when we reached an appropriate spot, I sat Aude down, got down on one knee, and proposed.

The West Sands, just outside St Andrews

Matthew standing on the West Sands

That all sounds simple enough. But it’s been hurdle after hurdle getting to this point. I found the ring I wanted, but it was halfway around the world in Sydney and the logistics of getting to the UK were too complicated. Onto plan B – have the ring made locally.

I found the diamond I wanted, but couldn’t find anyone to make the ring. Then I found someone to make the ring, but he couldn’t find the right diamond. Diamond Merchant A wouldn’t do business with Diamond Merchant B. By luck as much as anything else, I finally found someone who could produce both the diamonds and the design I was looking for, and I commissioned the ring.

Aude’s engagement ring

I went to collect it last week only to find that it wasn’t quite right – so back to Antwerp it went for some further modification. I went back this week to collect it – and got a phone call at the same time from my partner (in the professional sense) asking where I was. From my vague answers, he concluded I was interviewing for a job – so I had a lot of explaining to do when I got back to the office.

Ring safely in hand, all I had to do was get it to Scotland without Aude noticing. Everything was going fine until we went through airport security, where I managed to get selected for a thorough search. I had to urge Aude along so the game wasn’t given away.

Even when we arrived, Aude was determined to put barriers in front of me. She rejected the first place I offered her to sit on the basis that it was too dirty (it’s a beach, for heaven’s sake, not a hospital!). Enormous signs warned us of the dangers of fast-rising tides, and in the back of my mind were thoughts of being swept out to sea.

Aude’s first reaction, being a woman, was to burst out in tears. Here’s a hint to all women – if you’re going to burst into tears, do us men the courtesy of giving us an answer. Otherwise, we put ourselves through the treacherous debate of “are those tears of joy or is she feeling sorry that I’ve misread the situation so badly and she’s wondering how to let me down gently?” After what seemed like an eternity (and with a little prompting from me) she gave me the answer I was waiting for.